Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Anthony Edwards doesn’t think the level of basketball in the NBA from before he really started paying attention to the sport was very high.
Speaking to Lane Florsheim of the Wall Street Journal, Edwards explained that Michael Jordan was the only player “that really had skill” from past generations.
“I didn’t watch it back in the day so I can’t speak on it,” he said. “They say it was tougher back then than it is now, but I don’t think anybody had skill back then. [Michael Jordan] was the only one that really had skill, you know what I mean? So that’s why when they saw Kobe [Bryant], they were like, ‘Oh, my God.’ But now everybody has skill.”
Edwards isn’t shy when you put him in front of a microphone. He called himself “the No. 1 option” for Team USA prior to the Olympics on a roster that also had LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry.
Ben Golliver @BenGolliver
Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards on how he fits in with USA Basketball Olympic team: “I’m still the number one option. Y’all might look at it differently. … They’ve got to fit in around me. That’s how I feel.” pic.twitter.com/Cga5kTiR2J
The debate over players from past generations playing in this current era isn’t exactly new. There have been jokes on social media for years that Jordan’s dynasty with the Chicago Bulls came when he was playing “against plumbers.”
While that’s disrespectful to some of the most iconic players in NBA history—Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, to name a couple—it’s hard to argue that the level of athleticism in basketball today is as high as it has ever been.
There have been studies done that indicate an average NBA player today is between four to seven percent better than the average player from a decade ago.
Certainly, there is no one from Jordan’s generation like Nikola Jokić. A true center who handles the ball, can shoot from three-point range and is arguably the best passer in the league is a unicorn.
This doesn’t mean that Jordan was the only player from past generations with skill, but the talent gap was significantly wider back then compared to today. There hasn’t been a repeat champion since the 2016-17 and 2017-18 Golden State Warriors.
The last reigning champion to make it past the second round of the playoffs was the Warriors during the 2019 postseason.
Edwards’ message could end up making some legends of the sport mad, but there is at least some evidence to support his claim that there is more skill in the league now than ever before.
